“I don’t give a fuck if the world sneaks a peek.” And he didn’t. He desired her. Wanted her.
“You sure?” she said in a breathy tone.
“Here.” He placed her onto her feet, grabbed her hand and led her to a back room of the barn. He had her up against the wall again, bringing her leg around his waist as he fiddled with her jeans again.
This whole thing baffled him. He didn’t want things with Harley to just end. Not before he could examine his feelings closer. The very thought that things could fizzle sent cold chills through him. But as hot as they were together, how could they end? He’d fantasized about her every moment. Dreamed of loving her. Ached to have her over and over. None of those things even compared to being here with her, touching her, loving her.
Her jeans were down her hips and she helped him push them to her knees. He fumbled with his own buckle and zipper, quickly relieving his cock from the denim constraints. There was no time to waste. She grabbed his shaft and led him to the passage of heaven. He drove his body deep into her. She cried out and the horses in the stalls whinnied and clawed the Earth. He had the urgency to do the same. He was on fire, and there was only one woman who could ease the tension in him.
She clung to his shoulders as he rammed in and out of her, holding her tight, hearing her heavy pants in his ear. Nothing mattered but finishing, bringing them both to release. The scent of sex entwined with the strong scent of straw tickled his senses. Her small whimpers mingled with the noises the horses were making. She clenched him with her tight, wet muscles and with his bare cock he drove into her, so deep that he brought her off her feet and high up on the wall. He held her in place, holding her hair in one hand and her ass in the other.
He felt her tense and knew she’d reached release. Her spasms clenching around his body sent him spiraling over his own edge. He burst inside of her, squirting over and over, until the last bit left him.
After his breathing returned, he gently set her back down and he took a short step back, skimming his gaze over her wild features. Her hair clung to her face with perspiration. Her eyes glinted. Her lips were swollen from his kisses. He’d never seen her more beautiful.
She reached down, pulled up her jeans and situated her clothes. He did the same. When they were both dressed, she looked at him, tears glowing like diamonds in her stunning eyes.
“There comes a point when you can no longer just walk away, Penn. Isn’t that your MO? When things get a little close, a little emotional, you find a reason to walk? You give, and then take away.”
“I thought I was doing what was best.” His voice hurt.
“You never promised me anything, I understand that, but if you want to walk away, then so be it. There comes a time when you’re going to have to ask yourself what you’re running from. I’ll tell you that I’ve fallen for you. That might scare you because it sure as hell does me, but I needed you to know.”
He started to reach out, but she stepped out of his reach. “Harley?”
“No, listen. These things need said. You’re right, we have gone into this like two crazy people hungry for sex, not thinking about consequences. So, just as you accuse me of being vulnerable because I needed your protection, well, I’m going to turn it around on you. Did you sleep with me because you got caught up in the responsibility? Like a bodyguard high on being a hero?”
He opened his mouth and she shook her head to stop him.
“No, Penn. I don’t want you to answer right now. You don’t owe me one, but if you have even a sliver of the same emotions that I have, then you need to decide on what you wish to do. I can’t have just a lover. I need more. She took another few steps. “Goodbye.”
*****
Harley had been at home for less than an hour when she heard the soft knock on her door. Anxiously going to answer, she’d hoped to find Penn, but again, she was disappointed.
“Ray, what are you doing here? Where have you been?” She hurried and stepped back so he could enter. He was a nice looking man, but he looked like he’d been through hell and back. He had a scraggly beard and his hair was longer than usual.
Once she closed the door, she faced him. “Are you okay?”
He nodded and tore a shaky hand through his hair. “I didn’t know if I should come.”
“Have a seat. Tell me why.” She joined him on the couch. She was grateful that her friend was safe. “I’ve been worried about you.”
He brought his doubtful gaze up. “You noticed I was gone?”
“I tried to call. Didn’t you get my messages?”
“I’ve kept my phone off. The knowledge has been too much. I guess I should be grateful.”
She blinked, not understanding. “You’ve lost me.”
“Yes, I guess I have.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m still not following.”
“I sent the pictures, Harley, the surveillance photos. I wanted you to hate Marshall as much as I do. And you did. I didn’t think you’d be like all women though. Falling for a charmer that sleeps with every skirt. I thought, well, maybe we had a chance.”
She leaned back. “Ray, you and I discussed this. I care for you as a friend, but that’s where things end.”
“I’m a man in love. What can I say.”
She jumped up. “I’m sorry if I’ve given you a reason to believe we had a chance together.”
“Don’t look at me that way. Don’t be afraid.” He stood.
“You’ve caught me off guard. I don’t know what to say, except that it was wrong to send me the pictures. How did you get them?”
He chuckled. “I took them from Marshall’s desk. The bastard didn’t even have the decency to hide them.”
“I’m sure he didn’t expect to have anyone looking through his things.”
“Are you defending him?”
“Although I don’t approve of what he’s done, I do think your actions have made things worse. I believed that Marshall was the one behind this. I’ve caused Penn problems…” She inhaled sharply.
“You’re better than Penn Jericho.”
“I won’t discuss that with you.”
He chuckled, almost a cackle. “I saw you two rutting like pigs in a barn. You’re already turning into his whore.”
She stepped back, her leg hitting the corner of the coffee table. “You should go now.”
How could she have missed the facts?
“I’m sorry. I love you. I’ve been bad.”
“You’ve been stalking me, haven’t you?”
“I had to keep an eye on you. There are people, crazy people, who can hurt you. I am your friend. I sat outside of your house. Night after night. Watching you. When you’d go to work, I’d sneak in here. I would lay in your bed and dream, fantasize about how good you would feel. Everything was so great until that Jericho showed up. You would have been mine that night if he hadn’t shown up.”
Chills raced through Harley. Fear slithered down her spine. He didn’t just have a crush, he was obsessed. She’d blamed Marshall for everything, and although he wasn’t entirely innocent, he wasn’t the one calling her and hanging up, stalking her, sneaking into her house. Everything started to come together like clockwork. How Ray would come to the bookstore, sit for hours and she’d share her concerns. She’d been blind to another man’s intent.
Foolish.
This angered her.
“I have waited long enough, my sweet. Let things happen. I promise. It’ll be okay.” He took a step toward her, reaching his hand out.
She backed up and tried to shoot for the door, but he was faster and caught her by the hair, throwing her up against the wall. “I’ll only get rough if I must. I want to make love to you without the ropes around your slender wrists. Without your mouth covered so that I can kiss you.”
He sank his cold fingers into her hair, massaging her scalp. He sniffed her neck and moaned loudly. “Be mine, Harley. Fulfill me from head to toe.” His eyes rolled back into his head.
Her mind rac
ed. She needed to get out of this situation fast.
“I don’t know if I’m worthy.” She needed to keep him talking until she could get away.
“I’ll forgive you for the cowboy. Promise me you’ll never love him like you love me.”
“I don’t love Penn. I was lonely. I’d been through a lot. It was you I thought of. I should have seen how wonderful you are.” She kissed him on the lips, hoping the vomit didn’t work its way up her throat. His cold, bitter eyes were on her. She left a trail of pecks from his chin to his neck and to the open buttons where his chest was exposed. A scrawny chest covered in a rug of hair. Her stomach turned when he moaned, but she had to keep going. She was almost there…
Her fingers wrapped around the vase and she lifted it, smashing it over his head.
He groaned and fell to his knees, saliva foaming at the corners of his mouth. She pushed him away and he dropped to the floor as a thick trail of blood slid down his forehead. She reached the door, fingers on the knob, but he grabbed her foot, dragging her back and tripping her. She kicked at his hand, but he seized her ankle, and with the strength that must come from someone with an adrenaline rush, he held her in a way that she couldn’t move. He pushed her back so hard the air was knocked from her lungs.
She screamed loudly, but he was on top of her, pressing all his weight onto her chest, taking away any chance that she could scream loud enough to gain the attention of neighbors. She watched in horror as he reached into his pocket. Did he have a gun? A knife?
He brought out a white cloth. She thrashed, but he pressed her face. The smell was strong and her nostrils burned. The feeling bled through her, slackening her movements, making her mind slow to a sluggish crawl. Everything turned fuzzy, then black. She closed her eyes as she drifted…
CHAPTER TWELVE
PENN TORE THROUGH the glass doors at Reed Oil Industries, followed by his brothers. Several people in the lobby brought their heads up, eyes narrowing in curiosity. After going to Harley’s and seeing the signs of a struggle including blood stains and broken glass, his heart had dropped.
His brothers would be sure that Penn didn’t strangle Marshall before he got the information he needed.
Charlene saw him coming and jumped up, her eyes wide and her bottom lip trembling. “Mr. Jericho, I’m sorry, but Mr. Reed won’t see you. He asked that if you came here again I should call security,” she stammered.
“I’d advise you to do that. Where is he?”
“I-I can’t tell you.” She wrung her hands together.
“I’ll go through every single office, every nook and cranny, in this place until I find him. Would your boss prefer I make a scene or keep this as quiet as possible?” He meant every word. He wouldn’t leave until he got what he came for.
She hesitated, he could see the debate rolling through her as she weighed her options. “He’s in the conference room.”
He knew exactly where that was. As he quickly made his way toward the double glass doors, he caught Charlene’s words as she spoke into the phone, “Mr. Reed, you have company…”
Penn practically tore off one door from the hinges as he entered the room where the long table was surrounded by men and women in suits. Every head turned, every mouth opened, except for Reed who didn’t seem shocked. “You’re a brave man, Penn. I’ll give you that,” he said. “Leave now and I won’t have you arrested for trespassing.”
“Not until you tell me where Harley is.” Penn was across the room in seconds, grabbing Reed up by the collar of his fancy shirt and dragging him from the chair that he occupied at the head of the table.
“What are you talking about?” he sputtered. He finally showed an emotion besides narcissism.
“Get out!” Wes demanded to all the employees who were gawking.
They wasted no time. Penn could hear the scuffling of footsteps as they emptied the room in record speed. He found it incredible that not one of the suits were willing to come to Reed’s aide. Then again, it’d be a risk to face Wes who had the ability to scare the bravest of men with just a look.
“Don’t make me ask again, Reed.” Penn wanted to rip the man’s head off, but not until he heard what the asshole had to say.
“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, but you’re barking up the wrong tree, buddy.” There was a quake to Reed’s voice, but he held his chin high.
“Let me fill you in and see if we can jar your memory. I found blood and evidence of a struggle at Harley’s. She’s gone. She told me you stopped to see her today after I warned you there’d be no more contact between you two. Did you not get what you wanted and decided you’d hurt her?”
His eyes fluttered. “She’s not worth my time.” Penn tightened his hold, cutting off oxygen to the man who quickly shook his head. “I wouldn’t hurt her. What would I have to gain?”
“How the hell do I know what a piece of shit like you thinks? But what I can guarantee without a doubt is I’ve lost my patience. You either tell me what I need to know or I’m going to throw you out this window.” To prove his point, Penn dragged him to the window.
“You said you spoke to her earlier? I left the bookstore and came back here. I’ve been in meetings all day. Ask Charlene.”
“Get her in here.” Penn dropped the man’s lapel and Reed lost his balance, but quickly gained it. He scrambled to the phone and pushed an intercom button. “Charlene, get in here now!”
The woman didn’t take long. She came in, worried lines covering her face. “Yes?”
“Mr. Jericho has a question he’d like to ask you,” Reed straightened his tie, gaining some of his color back.
The young woman turned to Penn, her chin was now shaking. “Yes?”
“Charlene. Don’t be scared. I only need to know where your boss has been this evening, after four o’clock.”
“He’s been here all evening. He is working with international clients to secure a deal. That’s why we’re all working late.”
Satisfied, yet confused, Penn turned back to Reed who had moved to the other side of the room, giving plenty of space between he and Penn. Good idea. “How do I know that you didn’t hire someone. A man like you doesn’t do dirty work himself.”
He blew out a long breath. Some of the fear returning. “If I wanted to hurt her, would I make it so obvious?”
True. “Maybe you reacted impulsively. Like sending the photos.”
He chuckled. “I had the envelope sitting on my desk. They disappeared soon after and I didn’t think about it again until you came to my office today and mentioned it. I didn’t have you take the pictures to catch Harley with another man. I wanted to catch Ray Patterson with his hands in the dirt, so to speak.”
“Ray Patterson? Why?”
He shrugged. “I’ve suspected for a while now that the man was betraying the company, selling our innovations and data to the competition. Hell, I even suspected at one time that Harley was involved, but with a little more research, it was obvious she had no clue.”
“Could Patterson be behind all this?”
“How am I supposed to know? You’re the one fucking Harley so you should have all of the details.”
Penn took a step toward the man and fear filled his eyes. “You didn’t understand when I said my patience is thin.”
“Patterson could very well be the one who sent the pictures. He’s the only one I can think of. It was obvious the man was obsessed with her. I fired him right after you sent the pictures and he threatened me and everyone I cared for.”
“I have something that might help,” Charlene said.
“What is it?” Penn asked.
“One evening, I was closing up and happened to see Ray coming out of Mr. Reed’s office. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he had left a message for Mr. Reed. I came in to look, but I didn’t find a note and nothing seemed out of place.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mr. Reed sighed.
“You fired him the next morning,” she explained. “I
didn’t see the use then.”
“Where does he live? Where could I find him?”
“Charlene, get him Patterson’s address,” Reed demanded.
She nodded, started to turn, but then stopped. “I will give you his address, but I know Ray better than anyone I believe. Weeks before he was fired, he’d been talking about his mother’s old house. In fact, he seemed to become preoccupied with the place. I think he was planning on moving there. He once said that if he lost his job he’d go there.”
“Do you know the address?” Penn asked.
“No. I’m sorry, I don’t.” She shrugged. “But I do remember something that stuck out to me.”
“Anything would help, Charlene.” Penn rubbed his jaw.
“He said he grew up close to a tower in the shape of a pumpkin. He’d climb up it every evening, and on the weekends he’d sit and watch the carnival. He said the name…Mona May. Misty May…something similar was written on the tower wall.”
“I know it,” Wes said. “Mista Mary. About an hour from here.”
“Thank you, Charlene.” Penn hugged her. “If you ever want to leave this place, we could use a good secretary at SCS.”
The woman smiled, but when Reed cleared his throat, all expression left her face. Penn was almost in the hall when he heard Reed yell, “You’ll regret this Jericho. Mark my words.”
Penn didn’t much give a shit.
*****
Harley could barely open her eyes. A sharp pain shot through her temples and her vision was blurry. It took her several minutes before she remembered in detail what had happened. Fear climbed her spine and she tried sitting up, but her muscles gave out. Ray must have given her chloroform.
She took in several deep breaths, feeling a dull pain in her chest, feeling bruised all over. She dropped her hand to her stomach and realized she wasn’t wearing her clothes. Instead, she wore a pale blue gown that dipped low in front and was tight on her hips.
Rolling to her back, she looked up and jerked. Dark eyes were within inches of her face. She blinked, and glimpsed around her surroundings. She was lying on the dirty floor of an old carousel. The plastic horses were faded and chipped. Where the hell had he brought her?
Penn's Fortune (Saddles & Second Chances Book 2) Page 16
